Persistent Cloaca - A Challenge for an Experienced Sonographer

This was a retrospective analysis of ultrasonographic and echocardiographic examinations in 12 fetuses with postnatally confirmed Cloacal Malformation. All examinations were conducted at the tertiary fetal diagnostic center (none of the preliminary screening diagnoses were correct). The main manifestations of cloacal malformation were: signs of urinary tract malformations in 10 fetuses (83,33%), pelvic cyst, diagnosed or suspected as hydrocolpos in 9 fetuses (75%), signs of lower part of digestive tract obstruction in 6 fetuses (50%). In addition there were abnormalities in echocardiographic examinations in 6 cases, such as symptoms of cardiac failure (cardiomegaly, tricuspid regurgitation, monophasic inflow, pericardial effusion, ascites) and one case with AS ( aortal stenosis). Functional abnormalities in fetal echocardiography suggest increased preload or afterload and early circulation failure in this severe prenatal malformation. This malformation have never been published before. The data suggest, that fetal functional echocardiography abnormalities in cases of abnormal pelvic structures should alert the clican to possibility of the presence of cloaca.